Live at The Gospel Coalition Conference – 3

Books, books, books!!! Lots of book tables at The Gospel Coalition Conference. I had the chance to help out at the Christian Focus Publications table for an hour, with my friend Shaun. I also received multiple free books and Bibles galore, as part of the conference.

Tuesday night, both of us attended the Band of Bloggers event. 150 bloggers met to discuss blogging and working together to advance the Gospel. We heard from well known bloggers like Collin Hansen who directs the Gospel Coalition blog, Justin Taylor, Tim Challies, and many more.

Everyone got about 17 books (they ran out at the end, so I ended up with 16) from publishers who sponsored the event. You can see the list of books here. Around our table were five other bloggers, some of whom are pastors: Pastor Mike Berry of HeartofaRebel.com, Pastor Eric Redmond of A Man from Issachar, Nick Rynerson of Gospel Community Culture, Pastor Deryck Barson of PrizingGod.com, and Pastor Caleb Billingsley of Redeemer Church blog.

It was fun to be included in the Bloggers event and meet other men who are passionate about disseminating truth through online media. Another blessing of the conference has been meeting a few of my readers who stop and let me know they’re blessed by my blogging. Three different people have stopped me and talked to me about my blog. It’s a joy to know that my labors are helping others. To God be the glory.

Live at The Gospel Coalition Conference – 1

Yesterday my good friend Shaun & I drove to Chicago for The Gospel Coalition Conference. This morning we registered and received a new NIV compact Bible, a new edition of the ESV and an HCSB plus Collected Writings on Scripture by D A Carson.

We got a sneak peek at the expansive book tables and vendor area, too. The McCormick Place is huge and I hear 6,000 are attending the conference. I’ll try to give live updates from time to time, as I can.

For those who aren’t here, Desiring God is helping to live stream conference! Tune in, and be blessed.

The 2011 Gospel Coalition National Conference: See You There!

Over the years, I’ve blogged about quite a few conferences, from the sidelines. I eagerly downloaded the audio after the fact and helped spread the word about conferences such as Together for the Gospel Conference, The Gospel Coalition and others. This time, I get to go!

If you’ll be at The Gospel Coalition conference next week, I want to know. I’d love to arrange to meet you in person. The theme of this year’s conference is right up my alley: Preaching Christ in the Old Testament. Already, TGC is compiling a stellar listing of top-notch resources on this issue. You can learn more at their Preaching Christ in the Old Testament page.

I’ll try to bring some “live blog” updates if I have time. But I plan to be soaking up the ministry of the word at the conference. I’m also thrilled to be going with my fellow biblioblogger Shaun Tabatt, and we’ll both be attending the Band of Bloggers event Tuesday night.

Use the Contact page here, or message me on Twitter or Facebook to get in touch. Hope to see you there!

On another note, I’ll be meeting Phil Johnson in person the Sunday before TGC here at my church in St. Paul, Beacon of Hope. I’ve been following Phil’s blogging ministry off and on since his solo Pyromaniac days. He was a big help to me early on when I first started blogging about my journey out of extreme fundamentalism. Phil is in town for the Psalm 119 conference and will speak at our church in the services and for a special Q & A, dinner event following. If you live in the Twin Cities, contact me for more info.

Reformation Era Bibles from Hendrickson Publishers

      

Most students of the King James Bible are familiar with the history of English Bible translation. They have heard of William Tyndale and his sacrifice in bringing us the New Testament in English, the first translation from the Greek ever in our language. Tyndale paid for his love of the Bible with his death and burning at the stake in 1536.

After Tyndale, there was the Coverdale Bible and then Matthew’s Bible, the first Bible actually endorsed by the nation of England. The jewel of the Reformation was of course, the Geneva Bible with its controversial study notes. This Bible reigned supreme for a hundred years or so.

The King James Bible took its place and gradually stole the hearts of all Englishmen. It is undoubtedly the finest translation of the bunch and continues to be used widely to this day.

I remember a little over ten years ago, when I had the privilege of opening an early printing of the King James Version — a 1612 text, I believe. I got to handle a 1535 Tyndale New Testament and see authentic pages from a 1611 King James. I was with a group of college students visiting the Rare Book Reading Room in the library at Colgate University. I still get shivers thinking about that experience. I got to see the “f”-s used as “s”-s, the “y” abbreviation used for “the”, and the strange Gothic block print, which is very hard to read. But that wasn’t what thrilled me. Thinking of the treasure of the Bible and the sacrifice of those who gave it to us, was what made that moment so special.

The next best thing to seeing the original Bibles yourself, is having a reprint edition. I have treasured a 1611 edition reprint from Hendrickson Publishers for several years now. The font is more friendly to the eye, than the original 1611 font, but other than that all the orthography is original. Seeing the marginal notes and reading the KJV translation of the Apocrypha are some of the unique pleasures that reading from the 1611 edition offers. Occasionally, comparing that edition with a more modern KJV will also reveal a place where later KJV’s improved the text (or possibly departed from it) — which appeals to my critical eye.

Hendrickson Publishers now has a commemorative 400th Anniversary edition, of the 1611 Bible. I will be giving away one copy of that Bible here on our site in the next few weeks. Details will be forthcoming. Hendrickson also has special reprint editions of Tyndale’s 1526 New Testament, Matthew’s 1537 Bible, and the 1560 edition of the Geneva Bible. Throughout the next month I’ll be posting a brief review of each of these historic Bibles, leading up to the special giveaway of the 1611 Anniversary Edition, King James Bible.

~ cross posted from my group blog, KJVOnlyDebate.com. The reviews will first be posted there, then I will post them here as well.

Another Zondervan Book Giveaway

The deadline for entering the book giveaway I’m hosting here at Fundamentally Reformed, for Washed and Waiting: Reflections on Christian Faithfulness and Homosexuality by Wesley Hill is just about up. The drawing will be held 8pm Central time tomorrow (Wednesday, March 2). You’ll want to be sure you enter that.

Along these lines, I wanted to let my blog readers know about a giveaway hosted at the group site KJVOnlyDebate.com that I manage. Once again Zondervan is sponsoring the giveaway. We’re giving away one 2 volume commentary set each week through the month of March. Swing on by and enter this week’s contest. Just click the button below.